I kind of like the one gorgon described as it is portable and supports I think most platforms.
Take care. On Apr 22, 2013, at 12:54 PM, Martin G. McCormick <[email protected]> wrote: > I haven't been in the market for an OCR device in quite > a long time so I actually wonder that myself. I imagine that the > next one I get will be my own personal device as the last one I > had was through my job. It was a pretty good system back in 1993 > and worked well until it finally wore out about a decade later. > > It used a flat-bed HP scanner and software from a now > defunct company called Telesensory Systems Incorporated. > > I got to compare it to the Kersweil Reading Edge system > of about the same time period and both systems had their good > points. > > If the OCR solutions offered for the IPad/IPhone world > are really good at the OCR function, this is a game changer > because there are no moving parts in the system like there were > with the flat-bed scanners. > > Unless the page one is scanning is very simple and in > good condition, OCR systems get confused and misread text. Human > beings, for that matter, sometimes get confused and misread text > so that is not just a problem with machines. > > The camera must get a very good picture of the page. The > page must be straight and not slanted in the captured image and > the OCR software needs to be smart enough to not only decode the > print properly but handle layout such as columns and tables in > such a way that a person who is blind can make sense of it. > > A lot of stuff is very artistic these days, and you > might hear the text but since it is trying to read in a linear > fashion and the page is maybe laid out in columns or some other > non-linear manner, you will hear bits and pieces that are all > jumbled up in a way that will just drive you crazy. > > Straight linear text such as what you have in a story > book or history textbook usually comes out just fine on any > decent OCR system but they are apt to choke on complex pages > like newspapers and magazines. > > I am sure there are others on this list who are more > familiar with the cutting edge and have actually tried some of > these newer systems. I would like to know, myself which ones are > reasonable and which to not even consider. > > A sort of humorous example of what happens at times > occurred when I got my new OCR system in 1993. At that time, OSU > still shipped tons of paper-based handouts to staff and > students so I used my OCR system a lot for reading mail as well > as computer manuals which, in 1993, were still mostly > paper-based. > > The scanner was a black-and-white model which was fine > most of the time as I sure didn't care whether the images were > monochrome or in brilliant vibrant colors. > > Actually, I learned to care because the lamp that the > scanner used to aluminate the page was a mercury-vapor lamp > which is a brilliant blue-green like a lot of mercury-vapor > street lights around the world. > > I soon found out that orange-colored paper with black > ink is mostly black to that color of light and the camera always > had a tough time seeing enough contrast to render useful text. > > OSU's school colors are orange and black. > > A similar situation occurred if the paper was printed > with blue or purple ink. A common duplicating technique before > Xerox machines got cheap enough to be the preferred method was > something called Spirit Master or Ditto sheets. They produced > blue or purple letters in varying degrees of clarity which were > hard for even sighted people to read with their eyes. > > Anyway, I remember that a lot of mail was very hard to > read and i mainly hoped to get a word or two out of the mess to > determine whether to take it home to my wife or just toss it > right then and there. > > Martin > > stuart young writes: >> Hi Martin. >> What would be the best OCR solution to have?. > > ======================================= > > The Techno-Chat E-Mail forum is guaranteed malware, spyware, Trojan, virus > and worm-free > > To modify your subscription options, please visit for forum's dedicated web > pages located at > http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/techno-chat > > You can find an archive of all messages posted to the Techno-Chat group at > either of the following websites: > > http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/techno-chat/index.html > > Or: > <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]> > you may also subscribe to this list via RSS. 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